KR100636267B1 - Method for managing gtp tunnel in umts network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a GTP tunnel management method in a mobile communication system, and provides a plurality of services for one mobile station through one GTP tunnel in a mobile communication system that provides packet data communication to a mobile station using a GTP tunnel. The present invention relates to a GTP tunnel management method that enables a mobile station to provide all desired services.

GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnels, Serving GPRS Service Node (SGSN), Gateway GSN (GGSN), Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context, Tunneling Endpoint IDentifier (TEID)

Description

JPT Tunnel Management Method in the MMTS Network {METHOD FOR MANAGING GTP TUNNEL IN UMTS NETWORK}             

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a general UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) network structure.

2 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel generation process according to activation of a primary PDP (Packet Data Protocol) context.

3 is a diagram illustrating the transmission of data traffic over a GTP tunnel created upon activation of the primary PDP context shown in FIG.

4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a GTP tunnel generation process according to activation of a secondary PDP context.

5 is a diagram according to the prior art, illustrating data traffic over GTP tunnels generated upon activation of a primary and secondary PDP context in a UTMS network.

FIG. 6 is a diagram in accordance with the present invention, illustrating downstream packets according to primary and secondary PDP contexts in a Gateway GPRS Serving Node (GGSN). FIG.

7 illustrates an upstream packet according to a primary and secondary PDP context in GGSN, in accordance with the present invention;

The present invention relates to a GTP tunnel for packet data communication in a UMTS network, and to a method for managing a GTP tunnel using a PDP context.

Referring now to the drawings, network elements used for packet data communication using a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) network in a 3GPP organization will be described below.

1 is a diagram illustrating a general UTMS network structure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the UMTS network consists of a PS Mobile Station 100, a Node B 110, an RNC 120, an HLR 130, an SGSN 140, and a GGSN 160. The UMTS network composed of such network elements may be connected to an external network device such as the Internet server 180 through an external network (for example, the Internet).

The mobile station (MS) (hereinafter referred to as "mobile station") 100 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to a UMTS network through a base station 110 to perform call processing. In FIG. 1, the packet-switched (PS) Mobile is emphasized by emphasizing aspects of packet data communication through the mobile station 100. However, in general, the mobile station 100 in UMTS can support both circuit data communication and packet data communication. The base station (Node B, hereinafter referred to as "base station") 110 exchanges information with the mobile station 100 via a transmit / receive antenna. A radio network controller (hereinafter referred to as "RNC") 120 performs radio section matching with the mobile station 100 and matching with the SGSN 140. The Node B 120 and the RNC 120 may also be referred to as a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN).

The HLR (hereinafter referred to as "HLR") 130 is a functional unit that manages the mobile station 100, and stores subscriber information and mobile station 100 information. The Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 140 manages the movement of the mobile station 100. The Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 160 manages a PDP (Packet Data Protocol) Address requested by the mobile station 100. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, routers (R) 150, 170 may be used to connect network elements.

Meanwhile, in order to transmit packet data in a UMTS network, a GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) tunnel for transmitting packet data must be created. A PDP context activation process for creating a GTP tunnel is shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel generation process according to activation of a primary PDP context.

As shown in FIG. 3, the GTP tunnel is generated between the RNC 120, the SGSN 140, and the SGSN 140 and the GGSN 160 by the process illustrated in FIG. 2.

3 is a diagram illustrating data traffic through a GTP tunnel generated according to activation of a PDP context in a UMTS network.

When the GTP tunnel is generated as shown in FIG. 3, application data traffic is transmitted through the generated GTP tunnel.

Meanwhile, in the PDP context, there may be a primary PDP context and a secondary PDP context. The secondary PDP context reuses the information of the primary PDP context. That is, the information used by the primary PDP context and the secondary PDP context are the same, except that the GTP tunnel through which the actual packet data is transmitted is different. The primary PDP context and the secondary PDP context can be distinguished using a traffic flow template (TFT). The UMTS network provides packet data communication using a secondary PDP context in addition to the primary PDP context for various services of the mobile station 100. For example, the mobile station 100 may use the primary PDP context to receive e-mail and the secondary PDP context to receive Video On Demand (VOD).

4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a GTP tunnel generation process according to activation of a secondary PDP context, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating application data traffic through a GTP tunnel generated according to activation of a primary and secondary PDP context in a UTMS network.

An example of using the secondary PDP context described above will be described with reference to FIG. 5. The mobile station 100 may receive an e-mail from the server A 180-A through the GTP tunnel created according to the primary PDP context as shown in 501. The mobile station 100 receives the GTP tunnel generated according to the secondary PDP context as shown in 503. The VOD may be received from the server B 180 -B.

Secondary PDP contexts can be created after the primary PDP context is created, and, unlike the primary PDP context in which only one is created, several can be created. One GTP tunnel is created for each PDP context. That is, assuming that one primary PDP context and ten second PDP contexts can be generated for one mobile station 100, the RNC 120, SGSN 140 and GGSN 160 are connected to one mobile station (1). There will be a maximum of 11 GTP tunnels for 100).

Meanwhile, the GGSN 160 should have all the PDP contexts, that is, the primary PDP context and the secondary context, all in the same user traffic module. The reason for this is that all packets received from the external network to the mobile station 100 (for example, packets received from the Internet server of FIG. 1) use the same destination address, so that the GGSN 160 is received. This is because all PDP contexts generated for one mobile station 100 must be retrieved in order to deliver packets to SGSN 140 using different GTP tunnels.

However, since there is a limit to the PDP context that a user traffic module can have, the number of GTP tunnels that can be created also has a limit. That is, conventionally, a problem may occur that the mobile station 100 cannot provide all the services requested by failing to create the required number of GTP tunnels. Therefore, there is a need for a GTP tunnel management method for generating a GTP tunnel so as to provide all services requested by the mobile station 100 and transmitting application data therethrough.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a GTP tunnel management method for generating a GTP tunnel, which can provide all packet data communication requested by a mobile station in a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS).

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for transmitting application data through a GTP tunnel, which can provide all packet data communication requested by a mobile station in a UTMS.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for generating a GTP tunnel for transmitting packet data in UMTS, wherein a Gateway GPRS Service Node (GGSN) is a Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context from a Serving GSN (SGSN). A first step of receiving a creation request message; a second step of determining whether the received message is a primary PDP context creation request message; and a new Tunnel Endpoint IDentifier (TEID) if the message is a primary PDP context creation request message. A third step of allocating and transmitting the assigned TEID to the SGSN by including the allocated TEID in the PDP context creation response message; and as a result of the determination of the second step, the second PDP context creation request is not the primary PDP context creation request message. Message, the TEID allocated in the third process is included in the PDP context creation response message. And a fourth process of transmitting to the SGSN.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for transmitting packet data through a GTP tunnel in UMTS, comprising: a first process in which a GGSN receives packet data from an SGSN, and the GGSN in response to the received packet data from a primary PDP context; And a second step of finding a QoS to apply and a third step of transmitting the packet data to an external network by the QoS.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The present invention is characterized in that the same Tunnel Endpoint IDentifiers (TEIDs) are allocated to primary PDP contexts and all secondary PDP contexts requested from one mobile station in a process of activating a PDP context for creating a GTP tunnel.

The PDP context according to the present invention should include quality of service (QoS) information and traffic flow template (TFT) information for all packet data communication requested by the mobile station.

Embodiments described below may be performed in a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) network illustrated in FIG. 1. For description of the network elements constituting the UMTS network illustrated in FIG. 1, refer to the above description.

A process of creating a GTP tunnel through PDP context activation in the UMTS network shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 below.

2 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a generation process of a GTP tunnel according to activation of a primary PDP context.

When the mobile station 100 attaches to the SGSN 140 and transmits a primary PDP context request message to the SGSN 140 as shown in step 201 of FIG. 2, packet data communication is performed. The call procedure is started. At this time, only the minimum necessary air channel is secured between the mobile station 100 and the RNC 120. Parameters included in the primary PDP context activation request message include a Network Layer Service Access Point Identifier (NSAPI), and a Transaction Identifier (TI) hereinafter. PDP type, PDP address, Access Point Name (APN), Quality of Service (QoS), and the like.

Here, NSAPI is information generated by the mobile station 100 and its value corresponds one-to-one with a PDP address and a PDP context identifier (PDP context identifier). The PDP address indicates the IP address of the mobile station 100 used in the UMTS packet domain and is information for configuring PDP context information. Here, the PDP context stores various kinds of information of the GTP tunnel. The PDP context may be managed by the PDP context ID. The TI is used in the mobile station 100, the UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) and the SGSN 140, and is assigned a value unique to each of the GTP tunnels to distinguish each of the GTP tunnels. TI and NSAPI are used in similar concepts, except that TI is used in mobile station 100, UTRAN and SGSN 140, and that NSAPI is used in mobile station 100, SGSN 140 and GGSN 160. have. The PDP type represents the type, that is, the type of GTP tunnel to be created through the current PDP context activation request message. Here, the types of GTP tunnels include Internet Protocol (IP), Point to Point Protocol (PPP), Mobile IP, and the like.

The APN indicates an access point of a service network to which the mobile station 100 requesting to create a GTP tunnel currently connects. QoS represents the quality of packet data transmitted over the currently created GTP tunnel.

Meanwhile, in operation 203, the SGSN 140 sets a radio access bearer with the RNC 120 by transmitting a radio access bearer setup message to the RNC 120. The RNC 120 also transmits a radio access bearer setup message to the mobile station 100 to establish a radio access bearer with the mobile station 100. Thus, as the radio access bearer is set up between the SGSN 140 and the RNC 120 and between the RNC 120 and the mobile station 100, resources necessary for packet data transmission over the air are allocated.

In step 205, the SGSN 140 transmits an Invoke Trace message to the RNC 120. Invoke Trace messages are used for tracing, which is used to trace the flow of data.

Next, the SGSN 140 obtains the corresponding GGSN address using the APN included in the PDP context activation request message received from the mobile station 100. In this case, an external DNS (Domain Name Server, hereinafter referred to as "DNS") can be inquired. SGSN 140 first checks the QoS for the GTP tunnel to secure a resource and allocates a TEID (Tunnel Endpoint IDentifier, hereinafter referred to as "TEID"). Then, a routing table is searched for the GGSN address to obtain its own Gn port address having the lowest cost. The SGSN 140 also obtains the lu port address using the RNC-ID transmitted from the RNC 120. In step 207, the SGSN 140 transmits a PDP context request message including the Gn port address and the TEID obtained to the GGSN 160.

Here, the TEID is set for transmitting packet data between network nodes using a GTP tunnel. That is, the SGSN 140 stores the TEID of the GGSN 160, and the GGSN 160 stores the TEID of the SGSN 140. Therefore, the PDP context creation request message includes a TEID to be used when the GGSN 160 transmits packet data to the SGSN 140. This TEID will hereinafter be referred to as "TEID 1".

On the other hand, when the PDP context creation request message from the SGSN 140 receives the PDP context creation request message, the GGSN 160 completes the PDP creation response to the SGSN 140 in step 209. Send Create PDP Context Response) message. The PDP generation response message includes a TEID to be used when the SGSN 140 transmits packet data to the GGSN 160. This TEID will hereinafter be referred to as "TEID 2".

When the SGSN 140 receives a normal PDP generation response message from the GGSN 160, the SGSN 140 transmits a Radio Access Bearer (RAB) request message to the RNC 120 to create a tunnel with the RNC 120 in step 211. This message contains the Iu port address and the TEID that the RNC 120 should use when sending the packet data to the SGSN 140, which is assigned by the SGSN 120.

The RNC 120 secures the air channel according to the QoS requested by the SGSN 140, and transmits an RAB response message including the TEID and the IP address allocated thereto to the SGSN 140 in step 213.

Finally, in step 215, the SGSN 140 transmits an PDP Activation Accept message to the mobile station 100. As the mobile station 100 receives the PDP activation allowance message, a radio channel is created between the mobile station 100 and the RNC 120, thereby a GTP tunnel between the RNC 120, the SGSN 140, and the GGSN 160. This generation is complete. That is, the mobile station 100 can transmit and receive all packet data transmitted to its PDP address. From this point, the mobile station 100 can communicate with an external network device. In packet data communication, the actual traffic is encapsulated and transmitted in the GTP tunnel generated by the above call procedure.

The process of activating the primary PDP context has been described above. Next, a process of generating a GTP tunnel according to activation of the three secondary PDP contexts will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The present invention is particularly differentiated from the prior art in the process of assigning TEID2 at the time of GTP tunnel creation according to activation of the secondary PDP context.

4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a GTP tunnel generation process according to activation of a secondary PDP context.

The secondary PDP context activation process shown in FIG. 4 is a process of creating a GTP tunnel for secondary PDP context activation by reusing the GTP tunnel information due to the primary PDP context already activated. At this time, in the present invention, the secondary PDP context is activated by using the GTP tunnel that is already set according to the activation of the primary PDP context. To this end, the present invention allocates the same TEID 2 to the secondary PDP context as the primary PDP context. That is, when the GGSN 160 receives the secondary PDP context creation request message from the SGSN 140, the GGSN 160 does not allocate a new TEID 2 to the GGSN 140 and reassigns the TEID 2 allocated to the existing primary PDP context. In this case, the GGSN 160 may determine whether the received message is a primary PDP context creation request message or a secondary PDP context creation request message according to whether the TFT is included in the received PDP context creation request message. This is because the TFT is included only in the secondary PDP context.

Referring to the GTP tunnel generation process according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in step 401, the mobile station 100 transmits a Secondary PDP Context Request message to the SGSN 140. Parameters included in the secondary PDP context activation request message include NSAPI, Linked TI, PDP type, PDP address, APN, and QoS. In this case, unlike the primary PDP context activation request message, the secondary PDP context activation request message is transmitted by including the Linked TI, which is to use the information of the primary PDP context already activated.

Descriptions of steps 402 to 405 are similar to steps 202 to 205 shown in FIG. 2 and are not related to the present invention, and thus descriptions thereof will be omitted.

In step 407, the SGSN 140 transmits a Create PDP Context Request message to the GGSN 160. In this case, the SGSN 140 includes the first NSAPI (Primary NSAPI) in the PDP context creation request message so as to use the primary PDP context information with reference to the first NSAPI value. The first NSAPI value corresponds one-to-one with information of an already activated primary PDP context. In addition, SGSN 140 transmits a TFT in a PDP context creation request message.

Upon receiving the PDP context creation request message from the SGSN 140, the GGSN 160 secures a memory space for the secondary PDP context and stores the QoS and the TFT for the secondary PDP context. Meanwhile, the GGSN 160 reuses the TEID 2 allocated to the primary PDP context without allocating a separate TEID 2 for the received secondary PDP context creation request message. In other words, the same TEID 2 as the primary PDP context is transmitted to the SGSN 140. If the PDP context creation for the PDP context creation request message is normally completed, the GGSN 160 transmits a Create PDP Context Response message to the SGSN 140 in step 409. Through this, packet data having different PDP contexts can be transmitted through one GTP tunnel.

Next, a description will be given of a packet data transmission method through the GTP tunnel generated as described above.

In the management of QoS bandwidth, the GGSN 160 manages QoS bandwidth by referring to the PDP context corresponding to each GTP tunnel and shaping and dropping according to quaranteed / non-guaranteed services. Detach the DownStream. Of these, Downstream operates in the same manner as in the prior art. Therefore, the GGSN 160 separately manages the primary PDP context and all the secondary PDP contexts by PDP context for DownStream, and adds the QoS bandwidth for the secondary PDP context to the primary PDP context for UpStream. To manage. This is to use TEID 2 for UpStream as one. The operation of the GGSN 160 according to the downstream traffic and the upstream traffic will be described as follows.

First, the downstream traffic will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a downstream packet according to a primary and secondary PDP context in a Gateway GPRS Serving Node (GGSN) according to the present invention.

As shown in Figure 6, the downstream traffic is the same as before. That is, when the packet to the mobile station 100 is received from the external network, the GGSN 160 checks the TFTs of all PDP contexts and finds a specific PDP context. After finding a specific PDP to be used for transmitting a packet, the GGSN 160 attaches an IP / UDP / GTP header to a packet received using the SGSN address and SGSN TEID, that is, the TEID 1dmf, of the corresponding PDP context. 140).

Next, the upstream traffic will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a diagram according to the present invention, illustrating an upstream packet according to a primary and secondary PDP context in GGSN. When the GGSN 160 receives the packet data from the SGSN 140, the GGSN 160 checks the bandwidth in the QoS of the primary PDP context, shaping and dropping the traffic if necessary, removing the IP / UDP / GTP header, and forwarding the packet to the external network. do. At this time, it is emphasized again that the primary PDP context and all the secondary PDP contexts are transmitted using one TEID 2.

Since the GGSN does not assign a TEID for the secondary PDP context, all secondary PDP context services required by one mobile station are possible regardless of the number of contexts preset in a specific user traffic module of the GGSN. In addition, the GGSN may have more PDP contexts than actual PDP context setting capacity.

Claims (4)

In the method of generating a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel for transmitting packet data in a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Receiving, by a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), a Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context creation request message from a Serving GSN (SGSN); Determining whether the received message is a primary PDP context creation request message; And As a result of the determination of the second process, if the message is a primary PDP context creation request message, a new Tunnel Endpoint IDentifier (TEID) is allocated to transmit a PDP context creation response message including the allocated TEID to the SGSN, and the message And if P is a secondary PDP context creation request message, sending a PDP context creation response message including the TEID assigned to the primary PDP context of the mobile station that sent the message to the SGSN. The method of claim 1, wherein the GGSN determines that the received message is a secondary PDP context creation request message if the received PDP context creation request message includes a traffic flow template (TFT). 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the GGSN stores QoS and TFT information included in the received secondary PDP context creation request message together with primary PDP context information for the received mobile station. In a method for transmitting packet data through a GTP tunnel in UMTS, Receive a PDP context creation request message from SGSN to determine whether it is a primary PDP context creation request message, If it is a primary PDP context creation request message, it allocates a new TEID. If it is a secondary PDP context creation request message, it reassigns the TEID assigned to the primary PDP context, and sends a PDP context creation response message including the allocated TEID to the SGSN. A first process of generating a GTP tunnel; A second step in which the GGSN receives packet data from the SGSN; A third step of finding a QoS to be applied to the received packet data by the GGSN from a primary PDP context; And And a fourth step of transmitting the packet data to an external network by the QoS.

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